The Bangladesh Navy’s ambitious frigates program is now a reality, five multi-role stealth guided-Frigates will join the Bangladesh navy from the united kingdom. Bangladesh agreed to buy three British made vessels as well as two more that will be built locally at Chattogram Dockyard under the supervision of the united kingdom.
The purchase was discussed at a bilateral meeting between prime minister Sheikha Hasina and her British counterpart Boris Johnson on Wednesday during COP26 in Glasgow. Probably the deal is worth $2 billion USD as one Arrowhead 140 frigates cost around 300 million dollars. Arrowhead 140 frigates by Babcock International is a possible choice for this new naval ship deal between Bangladesh and Britain, the design and type are not officially disclosed. Babcock is in discussions with Greece, Indonesia and Poland about potential Type 31 contracts. This list of countries probably includes Bangladesh too!
The Bangladesh Navy has been working to contain the ageing of its fleet. The country is notorious for having 8 frigates in service, with an additional 6 needed just to replace aged hulls- but this doesn’t look like it’ll happen by 2030 unless they sign another deal or build more locally themselves at Khulna Shipyard’s second site .
Now let us discuss what kind of capabilities those new frigates might have: Arrowhead 140 FFG as a reference baseline has been designed by HDW Netherlands Defense Construction Company with assistance from Samsung Heavy Industries-UK specifically for exporting markets such as Bangladeshi ones given they needed high quality but at affordable costs.
The dhaka -London deal will focus on upgrading CDDL construction for a second drydock at their shipyard in Chittagong. The Royal Navy has had a long history of relying on ships built at Chattogram shipyards. From frigates that took part in the Battle of Trafalgar battle with Napoleon’s fleets.
In 2017 plans were announced to build these vessels which would be part of an updated Defense Forces Goal 2030 strategy of Bangladesh. The navy had inspected several proposals from several companies interested in developing designs into prospective models while also examining how they might evolve over time as technology advances and design needs change. In 2017 a tender was issued and it’s an open call that any company can submit proposals on how they would like these vessels designed or what materials will best suit for Bangladesh Navy .
| Name | Type 31 frigate |
| Builders | Babcock International |
| Operators |   |
| Preceded by | Type 23 frigate |
| Cost | GB£268 million (2019per unit (est.) |
| In service | 2027 |
| Planned | 7 (Total)5 (UK)2 (Indonesia) |
| Building | 1 |
| Completed | 0 |
The negotiation went on for quite some time, but finally, in principle, A high-ranking delegation from Dhaka consisting of ministers junior to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met their counterparts from London this week where ship procurement was one item discussed during intense negotiations lasting several hours until an agreement could be reached.”
Accordingly, many Bangladeshi navy personnel have trained alongside on exercises at places like The College Of Defense Studies in England – including last year during Exercise RSMY 14+1 where they learned about offensive countermeasures from instructors who had themselves once served aboard one such warship: Her Majesty’s Ship (HMS) Glasgow
The British High Commissioner Robert Chatterton Dickson said”We have been working with them on building up their maritime capabilities for many years now,” he added, noting that personnel from both countries’ navies graduate out of Royal Navy training programs together at RDFS
